This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON –- It’s pretty good when your All-Star catcher gets injured and you have a backup catcher with a Silver Slugger to his name. It’s even better when said All-Star catcher returns from injury and you have to figure out how to use them both.
But, two offensive catchers is better than one, and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is working through how to use Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver behind the plate through the final stretch of the season.
Heim was without a doubt the Rangers' starting catcher before he spent two weeks on the injured list with a left wrist tendon sprain. At the time of his injury, Heim was leading all American League catchers in innings behind the plate, while also being one of the most productive offensive catchers in the game. He has a slash line of .280/.337/.479 and started behind the plate in 80 of Texas' first 103 games.
He returned in just over two weeks, putting off surgery until the offseason to help the Rangers with their playoff push.
But Garver, who has dealt with injuries of his own this season, stepped up in Heim’s absence, hitting .317 with a .988 OPS in 12 games while Heim was on the IL.
On the other hand, Heim hasn’t quite gotten his rhythm back at the plate since coming off the IL. He’s just 2-for-12 in five games since returning. Bochy noted his timing is just a little bit off, but he’ll soon get back to doing what he does.
The Rangers have had these types of “problems” all season long. When one player goes down with an injury, another always steps up. Ezequiel Duran did it when Corey Seager was on the IL –- twice. Duran did it again with Josh Jung on the IL. And Dane Dunning has continued to step up in place of the injured Jacob deGrom.
The Rangers’ biggest advantage this season has been their depth. And now that depth has given Bochy some tough decisions to make. Down the stretch the rest of the season, he will need to decide how to split the time between Heim and Garver behind the plate, especially with Heim only able to hit from the left side of the plate.
If the Rangers’ best lineup needs to include both catchers, Bochy will find a way to make that work.
“It's very workable,” Bochy said. “It's a great situation to be in.”